Beautiful Boy
by lucky7unlucky13
Summary: Nothing is right in his world, his brothers hate him, his parents have relationship issues, and he doesn't think he can take it anymore. Then he meets beautiful boy. His way out soon becomes his cure to the disease called life. Friend turns to maybe lover


Forever Forbidden

Beautiful Boy

"Gay-Boy"

The alarm clock buzz loudly, and unexpectedly, woke the boy, grabbing him from his sweet, precious dreams. His eyes snapped open and-for one delightful moment, thought he wished it to be longer or prolonged further someway, however, his dream did not last for it was just a moment-he felt lost. Disoriented, if you will, and almost happy, due to the imprinting affect his dreams had cast upon him. He smiled, still dazed, for the end of that moment, beckoning his dreams, reaching for it. Willing it to return.

However this lasted for just one moment.

The moment that realization hit, and he recalled who and where he was, his smile diminished slowly, into a sad frown.

The boy's name was Harold. He was one of six children, all boys. He rolled over onto his left side, (wincing from the pains he had received from sleeping in a strange position), and stole a quick glance at the digital clock that rested not far from his bed. It read half passed eight in the morning. Feeling that he had woken up too early, he tried to return to sleep. However, when he remembered the date, his eyes snapped back open and he moaned. Murmuring and mumbling small, unimportant things to no one in particular, he made his way to the opposite side of his shared room. He stopped at the side of his twin's bed, wiping his eyes-getting rid of the left over sleep that he still possessed-and clearing his throat.

"Ronney." His brother smiled in his sleep, but remained unstirred. "Wake up," he called, raising his voice a little. There was no reply. He sighed and raised his voice a little more, but not too much (being sure not to make any unnecessary noise and accidentally wake up any of the other members of the family). "Wake up or...I'll dump a bucket or freezing water on you." Still, he remained in his nearly unconscious state. Was he okay? What was he dreaming about that required all of his attention?

"Samantha..." So that was it.

You see, every night, it's the same routine with Ron. If it's not women, it's money. And if it's not money, it's cars. He was such the typical, stereotype teenage boy. And this morning it appeared to show that he was dreaming of women. More specifically, his high school sweetheart, Samantha. Harry smiled knowingly. He tapped Ron hardly on the shoulder.

"Ron wake up or I'll tell Mom and Dad about your various 'nights out' with your oh so precious Samantha." The smile quickly faded off of Ronney's face, ultimately widening the one that belonged to Harold. He had him.

"You wouldn't," was his muttered response.

"Oh, but I would." His eyes slowly, and surely reluctantly, opened. He looked at Harold with an unsteady, half-focused-and even a little vacant-stare. (It was obvious the he was only partially present consciously.) After a second of pondering whether he should remain awake or just slip back into sleep, he decided to stay awake to hear his brother's reason for waking him up so early. And if the reason wasn't plausible enough, he'd surely give him a piece of his mind.

"Why did you wake me up sooo early," was his exasperated whine. Harry didn't acknowledge the question. As reality sunk into his brain, Ronney slowly remembered what day it was. His eyes widened a little as he recalled the date. When he did, his mouth widened to form an "O" shape. "What time is it?"

"Half passed eight." Ron moaned.

"So we've got to wake up everyone and get breakfast and stuff running. But first...showers." He wrinkled his nose. "No offense, but you need it badly." For waking him up early, it was a simple way of payback. He smirked and walked away from his brother towards the door. And that was that.

Over the span of one and a half hours, everyone in the Barmel family (adults and children) was awake, dressed, ready for the day, cooking breakfast, et cetera. All but one.

As Harold and Ron set the table for breakfast, Johnny (one of the 16 year olds of the family) dressed, Robert (Johnny's twin) finished his hair, Nathaniel, the eldest, cooked breakfast, and Noel helped Jonna get ready for work, the Lewis slept.

Lewis dreamt of clouds the sprang of the colors pink, lavender, and lime green, singing birds that flew through the skies, unbound by nature, and...fairies. And not the fairies that grant wishes, but the ones that keep you safe at night and watch over you from day to day. However, when he looked at the sky, smiling, the pinkish purple clouds suddenly turned from light lavender to dark violet, to blue, then, eventually, to black. The clouds unnaturally gathered and swirled together, twisting and entwining, to form the face of his worst nightmare.

The light brown eyes, the blonde hair, the light skin...yes, it was him. His worst nightmare and his best fairytale. The singing stopped, the fairies became hollow and swiftly disappeared, and everything happy in his dream world quickly diminished and perished ultimately. He turned to face the nightmare.

"You will be...forever mine..." The eerie voice was the perfect replica of the real thing. Cold shivers ran up and down his spine. He got goose bumps, causing him to rub his arm, trying to force them away. Unfortunately, they stayed.

The face in the clouds slowly grew and mounted itself inches from Lewis's face. His eyes widened and he covered his face in a defensive manner. He closed his eyes and then, when he heard nothing, re-opened then.

He wiped the tear-he hadn't even noticed it gather-that ran down his cheek. He closed his eyes, which were burning, for a while. He wiped his face like he did every morning, even though nothing was there.

By then, breakfast was ready, all the boys were showered and dressed, and Jonna was ready for work. The table was set with food and, overall, the house was silent; still.

The boys and their parents tip-toed up the stairs, trying to be wary of any excess noise, and crowded around Lewis's room. They waited all but a few seconds until they heard some signification that he was awake. A few seconds later, they heard light foot steps as his feet swept and thumped against the floor. Tip-tap-swish, tip-tap-swish. They shared smiles, though some were fake, as approached the door.

The door swung open-and it creaked an ugly, high screech-and he saw it coming before he heard it.

_Oh God…_

"Happy birthday Lewis!" they chorused. All he could do was politely smile in response. He looked them over quickly. Harry and Ronney were wearing the same shirt, just in different colors. Harold in purple and Ron in green. His two favorite colors. John had on a very cool South Pole shirt and distressed jeans and nice sneakers. Nate had a dark green shirt, purple jeans, and black, purple, green, and white expensive sneakers. Even Jonna's suit was green. Then, he looked at his father.

His face wasn't harsh, but it bore no smile. He wore casual clothes, but, somehow, he got the impression that they weren't just "around the house" clothes. The vibe that he picked up from his father was annoyed, impatient almost, as if he had better things to do with his time. He frowned at the sight of him.

"Well, sweetie, I'd really love to stay, but I..." She pointed over her shoulders towards the stairs (which was also in the same direction as the door and her car outside of the house). He respectfully smiled at the apology. He understood her dilemma. Her job was very time consuming. Being a child and psychologist adult and the CEO of a publishing company took time and a lot of it. And he told her just this, however, she frowned in response.

"But it's your..." He put a hand on her shoulder, kindly.

"There's always next year. Now go to work before you're late." He smiled at her. His warm golden, ember eyes smiled also, and she couldn't resist him. She just had to smile in return. Then she turned to go.

Then they all looked back at him, their eyes like daggers. He squirmed uneasily under their gazes. He slowly slid into the doorway of the bathroom. He turned back around to face them, staring back.

"Well, I'll take my shower and eat and stuff. It'll take a while for me to do that, so, why don't you guys just...go and do what you want until I'm done?"

By the time he had showered, dressed, and eaten, it was roughly around 11:00. He and his brothers were seated at the dining room table, sharing smiles. They watched him, waiting for the right moment to strike. He sensed this and, therefore, tried his best to prolong it. However, he could only eat so slowly before they realized he was trying to duck out of spending a day with them. By 11:15, they grew tired of waiting.

"So, what are you going to do today for your birthday," Ron nagged him. He sighed and opened his mouth, going to answer "Nothing" and get it over with because he wasn't in the mood to deal with his brothers. They were hypocrites. Unfortunately, Robert knew his brother well.

"And don't say 'nothing'," he chimed in. He grinned at Lewis and Lewis frowned back.

_He knows me so well._

"Uh...I don't know. Well, I could always call up Emily and, um, we can hang out." They all shook heads.

"It's out of the question," Nate said. "It's your birthday for goodness sake. Get out, do something, I'll be more than happy to drive you. At least get out of the house. It's too hot to lie around all day. It's the middle of July." He shook his head in protest. Nathaniel looked at John for some help. John only grinned in acceptance to the challenge.

"For every minute that you stay here, you get a set of birthday punches...each." They all cracked their fingers at once. He gulped. He looked at the five grinning faces and decided not to take his chances.

"Fine."

They all hopped into Nathan's 2007 white Escalade. It was very spacious and comfortable. Overall, more appealing than Harold's Chrysler 300c. The drive had taken them all about twenty minutes. After going all throughout town, they had finally stopped at the mall. Nate smiled, as did the other boys, as Lewis sighed heavily.

"Okay seriously, the mall? Why are we here?"

"We're here for you to pick up anything you want in addition to what we've already gotten you separately. Think of it as a gift from all of us." He smiled in return.

"Oh, you guys don't have to do that."

"But we want to," John said in the best sincere voice that he could conjure. Lewis bought it.

"And hey-" Nate continued, smirking at him, "-you've been single for too long." Lewis's eyes widened and he was sure to be quick to diminish this conversation before it started, because he knew what he was getting at and then everything would be downhill from there.

"Nate-" he started his warning.

"And who knows, maybe-"

"-stop talking-"

"-you'll see-"

"-please don't-"

"-a cute, er, guy that you like. Better hope he's single. Hahaha..." Lewis's eyes widened even more. He even winced slightly.

_Great. And the cookie crumbles..._

His head lowered and the others all stared at him, besides Nathan, and gave disgusted noises.

"Eww."

"Gross," Ron added after Harold.

"Yaoi!"

"So gay," Johnny finished it off, in the cruelest way. He took off his seatbelt and opened his door, he pushed it open. He then slammed it-not too hard, but it did slightly hurt their ears. The twins and Bobby followed suit. With each slam Lewis became sadder.

Nathaniel's eyes widened also. He hadn't expected them to react that way. Sure he had been off to college for a few months, but last time he was home, the boys hadn't acted so negatively. Lewis read this off his face.

"I'm...I'm awed. I'm sorry, I didn't know that they'd react in such a negative way. Had I known..."

"It's okay, I don't blame you. It's just...a lot has happened since the last time you were here." He opened his mouth to ask, but Lewis beat him to it. "That's a tale for another time." And with that, they both exited the truck

They all walked into the mall without another word. They entered and walked around for a bit until they came to the food court. Lewis looked at his brothers.

"I have to, uh, use the bathroom. I'll...be right back." He turned to his left and walked slowly to the bathroom. He pushed the men's door open. He walked straight to the mirror and peered at himself. His girlishly long hair was slicked back into a ponytail. His bangs hung over his light, creamy golden ember eyes, causing him to seem...mysterious. In comparison to the older twins' short dark brown hair and dark eyes, the younger twins' long light brown hair and plain medially toned eyes, Lewis was the most attractive of the Barmel Boys. At the thought of this, he smiled weakly at his reflection.

The screech of the bathroom door being swung inward filled the bathroom. Lewis slowly turned to face the door to see who it was coming into the restroom. When he caught a glimpse at who it was, he instantly turned back to the mirror, as if the figure's image itself burned his eyes. When he looked at the mirror, his weak smile had turned into a solid frown.

"What's taking so long pretty boy? Admiring yourself," Ronney joked. When he saw that his face didn't enlighten, his expression became more serious. "Look, about before..." Lewis raised his hand to silence him. He looked at him and gave him the most innocent look he could. He then faked a smile.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he said. He even showed some teeth. Whatever to get his brother off his back.

_All I need to do is totally forget about it and it will be fine._

But he wasn't buying it.

"No it's not. We were being very immature and insecure. I'm sorry, really, I am. But it's weird having a gay brother. No offense, but when we go down the line of the boys in the family, you...mess it up! I'm sorry, really, but you're the weakest link in the famous 'Barmel Boys', you know? Well, basically, what I'm trying to say is that it's a little difficult to cope with a queer." Lewis took his hair out of his precious ponytail and let it fall out, running down his back. He then gave him an exasperated look. He put the rubber band around his right hand and then, reluctantly, and deliberately, he turned to face his brother.

"Nice," he said sarcastically. He walked towards the door. Then, unexpectedly, Ron slapped himself on the forehead in frustration.

"No, I didn't...I'm...I'm sorry, I'm being a total screw up right now." Lewis had to smile a little at him. He was trying so hard to make him happy. "I'm, no, we're sorry." At the thought of his other brothers, his smile diminished.

_Johnny's not._

And with that, he exited the bathroom. He instantly saw a lot of things at once. First he saw his brothers, obviously laughing at something that John had said, by the looks of things. They were gathered to his right. They were headed towards a table. And then he saw the food that Bobby was carrying. He turned his head s little to his left and the spotted Borders, a little further down, on the same side of the mall. He turned his head once more and then, as if by fate, he stole his first glimpse of the boy. The beautiful boy.

He had golden blonde hair that shined, not too long, but not too short. His skin was light, creamy and, (even from afar which was about 20 yards away), soft. It was like he could feel his skin. And, to top it all off, he was the perfect height for Lewis, which was roughly about 5'9". He could not take his eyes off of him. Then he peered into his eyes.

They were brown. Plain brown. But when he looked closer, they became richer. Chestnut almost. The longer he stared at him, the more beautiful he became. Soon, he found that he could not take his eyes off of the mysterious boy. If he tried, he would find himself staring at him again. It was as if his eyes were suddenly, unnaturally, magnetized to the sight of the boy. And, soon, he didn't want to look away from him. Honestly, he could have stayed there for hours staring at him. His beautiful hair, radiant skin, his perfect height, his perfect figure, his perfect swagger, his perfect...essence. He looked into his eyes again and fell-he could have sworn to God that he felt like he was physically sinking-into a deep swirl of magical beauty. For a second he could have sworn that he was outlined in a faint light. Bright, strong, and yet...vacant at the same time. Something was missing. What?

"Lewis!!" The voice slapped him out of the trance he was in. He even sucked in a breath. Had he been breathing at all? Wow, apparently not. That could be a potential problem. But, trying to follow the voice and forget about the boy, he turned his head and searched for who might have called him. It took him a total of ten seconds to recognize and locate the voice. It belonged to Johnny.

He looked about his surroundings very slowly. He blinked, surprised. He was sitting in a chair at a table in the food court. The last time he was aware of his surroundings, he was standing outside of the men's restroom door. He must have stared at that boy for a long time. He looked down at his food and saw it half-eaten.

_Wow, I must have been very mesmerized._

"What? I-I-I mean yes?" He blinked a few times to shake it off.

_That boy..._

"Did you not hear me calling you?" He had to think for a second.

"No? I mean yes. Yes. Yes, I did _not_ hear you call me. Is there something that I could do for you?"

"I called you like three times. I practically yelled your named. How could you not hear me? Anyway, since we're done eating, where do you want to go?" He got up slowly and turned around. The boy was within talking distance He was laughing with another boy, just as tall, nice looking, but nowhere near how the beautiful boy looked. He continued to turn until he turned in a complete circle. His brothers looked at him.

_Had I really stared at him for that long?_

"Are you okay?" He ignored the question and picked the first store that came to mind.

"Abercrombie and Fitch! I want to go to Abercrombie and Fitch." The looked at him as though he was a different person. Fortunately, though, none of them opposed or said anything.

He led the way to the store. It was just up the escalator and down the hall to the right. He named the stores he passed in his head to keep him distracted. Hollister, American Eagle, Aeropostale, et cetera. However, the harder he tried to be unfocused and distracted, the more he thought about that boy. Who was he? He was about his age, why hadn't he seen him before? How old was he? What was his name? What was his sexual orientation? (The last question caused him to stop walking for a millisecond. He shook it away and continued before anyone could notice.)

He saw the store and walked inside. He heard the music and noted it as a recognizable song. He bobbed his head to the music. Then he turned to them.

"Well, you can...walk around, it'll take me awhile to know what I want to get." They all instantly walked in opposite directions. He turned on his heels, satisfied, and walked around the store. He came upon the jeans and just searched for a pair that he actually might get. He became lost for all but ten minutes. Then he found an actual pair of jeans. They were dark at the bottom and became lighter the higher that it came to the waist. Had they not been in a store someone might have mistaken them for old jeans that were torn. It looked, overall, well...distressed.

"So, you want those? No problem." They all had gathered around him by then. He turned, a little surprised. They were all taking out their wallets. He smiled, he couldn't help it. However, it was not a happy smile. If only they were this kind to him all the time.

They went to the cash register to buy the pair of jeans. There was a girl working it. When she spotted Lewis, she smiled. He sighed but smiled back at her. She took the pair of jeans, rung it up, looked at its price, and then looked back at him, smiling still.

"Is this all sir?" He nodded and then turned his head towards the doorway of the store. He now could hardly remember what the boy looked like. He remembered blonde hair and brown eyes, but he couldn't remember what made him so special. He shrugged and blinked, dismissing it from his mind. His brothers had already bought the jeans. Bobby pulled on his sleeve and ushered him towards the door.

"So, what now, birthday-boy?" Lewis smirked at him sideways and looked around the mall. He was the bookstore, which was further than it was before, and opened his mouth to say bookstore. Unfortunately, the beautiful boy's friend was standing outside of it. He looked back at them.

"I don't know, why don't you pick?" He walked slowly out of the store, and stared at the friend.

"Nope, it's your birthday, so you tell us where to go, besides home." Then the friend left the outside of Borders and walked towards Gamestop. He smiled and turned back to his brothers. It was safe to go.

"How about the bookstore?" They all looked at him uninterested, but none of them said so much as a word. They agreed to go to Borders. He nodded and started off towards the store. As he walked, he couldn't help but wonder. Where was the boy, himself? Sure, he knew he was obsessing over someone that he didn't even know. Someone that he just happened to see in the local mall. But, he couldn't explain it. The boy was nearly irresistible.

They were outside the store within minutes. He looked around and was happy report that no one he knew was within sight. He grinned and turned to them. Now, his brothers.

"Look, I might be a while, so you guys can, you know, go. You don't have to wait for me. You've already bought the gift, this is something I'm doing for myself. So, go…girl hunting or something. And take your time, come back for me in like ten minutes." He checked his watch and it showed the time as 11:47. "Make that fifteen, about twelvish? Good? Good." He was in the store before they could disagree. They looked at each other, shrugged, and walked off. (Johnny went to Gamestop with Nate, the twins went to stalk around and actually meet girls, and Robert went to the Apple store.)

As he entered the store, he scanned he area and didn't see anyone that he recognized. He relaxed and went to the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the books. He smiled a little as he spotted one of his childhood favorite series. _Pendragon._ His smile widened a little.

"I never read past the penultimate Pendragon." He chuckled and reached over to pick the book up. Yes, he remembered te story quite vividly. His smile slowly grew smaller as he put it down. He scanned the other books and saw nothing interesting. So, he turned to go to the Horror section. However, when he turned his body, he stopped dead. His eyes even widened a little bit.

"You know, neither did I. I heard it was really good." It was the beautiful boy with golden hair and ember eyes…and he was smiling at Lewis. Lewis couldn't think-forget thinking, he couldn't _breathe_- for a total of about ten seconds. Once he got a hold of reality and caught his breath, a million questions sprung in his head all at once. Who was this beautiful boy? What was his name? How old was he?

He opened his mouth to ask one of these questions. However he shook it off. He decided to stick with the present conversation. The handsome boy's eyebrows lifted expecting. Lewis blinked a few times and cleared his throat.

"I-I just wonder how they'll beat Saint Dane and Neeva." The boy's eyebrows dropped, signifying his satisfaction.

"Forget that," he even joked. "I just wanna know what happened to Mike and Courtney. And I wanna know how Al dies. The more painful, the better." This actually bought a smile from Lewis. The boy smiled back. He then outstretched his hand. Lewis looked at it like it was on fire. Was he really outstretching his arm? In an embracing way of some sort? Was he actually going to _touch_ his hand? Nice…

"Hi, I'm Anthony." Lewis shook his hand. It was soft and gentle. He almost melted at his touch. He blushed deeply. So far so good.

"Hi, I'm Lewis." The boy nodded in approval.

"I like your name." He smiled in return. Lewis couldn't resist. He had to ask him something about him, anything to keep the conversation going.

"You don't look familiar, do you live around here?" The boy-Anthony-smiled and walked towards the bookshelf over, slightly walked away from him (backwards).

"I moved in with my grandmother, little brother Steve, and my best friend, Allen. Long story, haha. I'll be going to the high school this upcoming school year. Uhm, I'll be a sophomore, my brother will be an eighth grader, and Allen will be a junior. How about you? Do you live around here? And do you go to this high school?" Another set of questions nagged at Lewis. Why had this boy Allen moved in to? What about his grandfather? And his parents? How "long" was this story? However, he set them aside.

"Sophomore." The boy smiled, pleased again. Lewis was dazzled.

_We'll be in the same grade._

Their conversation continued for a total of ten more minutes. They shared many laughs and ideas and began to show a little of themselves to each other. They made their way to the back of the store. Laughing at a joke that Anthony had shared with him, Lewis looked up and, to his utter agony, saw Johnny and Rob. Uh-oh. They were surely going to mess up these perfect ten minutes. He looked back at Anthony, trying to ignore them coming for him.

"Hey." Lewis tried to ignore the familiar voice further.. He didn't want the conversation to end. They were doing so well. "Lewis." Anthony looked up at the two boys. He then turned back to Lewis, smirking.

"Looks like your friends want you back," he joked. Lewis smiled.

"Actually brothers. But they can wait. Birthday boy is talking to his new friend." Anthony laughed.

"Well, happy birthday." He thanked him. However, his brothers were more persistent than he had planned, or hoped. Then, the unthinkable happened.

"Gay-Boy." Lewis blushed deep, deep red. He turned, unwillingly, to face Johnny. He wore a smirk on his face as if to say, "You shouldn't have ignored me. Haha…" He sighed and turned back to Anthony. His eyes were wide with surprise. His mouth opened slowly, trying desperately to form words, however, he closed his mouth., unsure of how to go about it.

_Oh great. Another friend lost. Another person to call me a freak…another cute guy lost._

He sighed once more and put his hair in a ponytail.

"I'm sorry Anthony but…I have to go." The boy's face was red with venomous anger. He wouldn't look directly at Lewis. Was it that bad? Or was it something else? He studied his face closely and decided. It was just that bad. Lewis, feeling shy all of a sudden, just wanted to shrink into nothingness.

"Bye." The word was like a slap in comparison to the kind, open, bold boy that he had just been conversing with intently. He turned towards Johnny, who was still smiling at Lewis, and gave him the most lethal death stare that he could muster. It must have been overly affective because the smile was wiped from his face almost sooner then instantly.

"What?" Lewis shook his head and stalked out of the bookstore-fast. He had to get away from him before he was utterly embarrassed again. And he was too heated to talk to Johnny. However, John didn't understand any of this just by facial expressions. "What did I do _now_?" Lewis didn't acknowledge the question. Instead, he gave him the silent treatment. He walked passed his other brothers who were waiting outside the bookstore and didn't stop until he was outside, tapping on the door of the car. And boy had he gotten there pretty quickly.

He looked at Nate impatiently.

"Unlock the car," he commanded. His voice was soft and light. However, Nathaniel wasn't in the mood to face the wrath of Lewis. So, he unlocked the car almost simultaneously. Lewis hopped inside and tapped his leg after he put his seatbelt, waiting impatiently for the car to start and for them to be home so he could forget his day at the mall. The others filed into the car quickly, confused. Nate started the car and looked at him. Lewis had crossed his arms and was looking straight ahead.

"Wait, what happened?" Lewis ignored Ronney.

"Why are you angry at me? What did I do?" Lewis huffed heavily. He slowly turned to Johnny and gave him a dead stare. It took him a while to realize what was going on. But, once he did, a slow smirk spread upon his face. "Oh. You liked him, didn't you? Hahaha, oops, soooorry." Their eyes widened

"Wait, wait, wait…what? You met a guy? Haha, guess I was right," Nathaniel gloated.

"Will you just…" He stopped before he could get any angrier or annoyed at his brothers. He exhaled deeply. "Drive. Please." Nate nodded, still smirking, and put it into drive. He plunged it and went straight home.

"Surprise!!" His eyes widened and he flat out grinned. Had they really thrown him a party? He looked around at the serious faces. Yes, yes they had.

"Wow, I had no idea. Thanks," he said, turning to his brothers. His previous anger had evaporated. He turned back to the waiting people.

"Happy birthday Lewis," said a girl that he recognized as Errin Blossum Rae. She was another good friend of his. He smiled at her.

"Thanks." People started to gather and come his way. As they came, he scanned them as quickly as possible to note who was or wasn't present.

Errin, check. All brothers, check. Jason, check. Emily, of course. And throughout the time frame of he marked five best friends present, eleven other good friends also (although one was absent due to injury, which was highly understandable), and even two people that he _didn't_ like were there. Father…awl. He sighed deeply, however, he was not surprised. He had just hoped that, just for his birthday, his father would show some affection towards his younger son. All to no avail.

He gathered with his group of best friends. There was Emily, Jason, Errin, Valerie, and Benjamin. Everyone else talked, bobbed-heads-or even danced-to the blasting music, ate snacks, or just roamed. He noted that all of his brothers, besides Nate, had run off with their friends. Typical brother behavior. He shook his head and turned back to his friends.

"Omigosh," Errin began, (speaking it as though it were one word), "Guess what?!" They all stared at her, her eyes gleaming, mouth wide, and ready to pounce on them with her surprise. Honestly, she looked like a three year old who was just promised the world. They waited a total ten seconds before Jason grew impatient and had to ask.

"Well…? What?"


End file.
